A new report from CNET said that PC makers are trying to meet demand for the Windows 8 laptops, tablets and hybrid convertibles, and stores are having trouble keeping them on the shelves. However, a report from The Seattle Times offers a very different point of view.

CNET spoke with two different analysts on the topic, including Bob O'Donnell from IDC and Rhoda Alexander from IHS iSuppli. Both stated that vendors are having a hard time meeting customer demand for Windows 8 touchscreen PCs, and may even have shortages in the near future.

"We've talked to a number of PC makers that are having trouble obtaining touch panels and some of the vendors I've talked to said they can't keep them on the shelf," said Alexander.

O'Donnell made sure to add that non-touch Windows 8 PCs are not doing quite as well, though. This is only based on touchscreen devices.

The Seattle Times had a very different report. It said that the low availability of Windows 8-powered tablet devices has led to decreased customer demand, and obviously sales.

According to The Seattle Times, only five Windows 8 tablets out of a dozen that were announced are available on the market. Two of them, including Microsoft's own Surface and an Acer tablet, are only available at the Microsoft Store. Currently, there are only about 60 of those.

This short reach has been affecting demand and sales of the tablets, it said. The Seattle Times also spoke with an analyst to get an idea of what's going on with Microsoft's latest addition, and the feedback wasn't too positive.

Wes Miller, an analyst at Directions, said that Microsoft has been hush-hush about its sales numbers, and that is never an encouraging sign.

While The Seattle Times doesn't seem to think that Windows 8 devices will combat the likes of Apple's iPad anytime soon, this isn't the end for Windows 8-based tablets. Eve Jung, an analyst at Nomura, said tablet shipments will pass up notebook shipments in the second half of 2013. By then, Microsoft will have its Windows 8 Pro-based Surface on the market and more Windows RT tablets (the ARM-based version) will have finally made their way into stores.

While the number of sales of Windows 8-based touchscreen devices is unclear, Microsoft just proudly announced that Windows 8 upgrades hit 40 million in the first month of release. This surpassed Windows 7, which was the previous record breaker for Windows OS upgrades.

according to the independent analyst firm Distimo, the Windows Store already has about 21,000 applications , far outpacing the mac App Store has 13,000. Moreover, if we take the 300 most popular titles in each of the two stores, we see that the volume of downloads in the Windows Store is three times larger than its competition.

Furthermore, the fact that 84% of the tools in the App Store are payment allows the purchase of tools is five times larger in the ecosystem, in relation to a competition where the market has 86% of applications free.

First of all, who cares about desktop applications - this is a mobile platform discussion.

Secondly, the number of apps in a desktop app store is meaningless. You can buy your desktop apps anywhere, you don't need some silly marketing tool called an "app store". With mobile, that isn't the case. On a phone or a tablet, you aren't loading software from CD's; you're shopping in the app store - because you have to. So the number of apps in a mobile app store actually means something.

I don't understand how RT is great in theory either. I mean, it's a gimped ARM operating system to run on gimped ARM hardware. It can only be targeted at farty consumers because it lacks the power to do anything truly productive. For me at least, I'm not going to choose battery life over raw computing power and functionality. I feel the same way about all things ARM, specifically Android and iOS tablets. I understand ARM on a phone or packed inside a television because it's 100% functional for its intended purpose, but for a computer, it seems like wasted money.

ARM is getting pretty powerful considering its power envelope. Its no where near that of the latest Intel or AMD processors. But most people don't use those to their fullest extent. For the vast majority of users, in a few years ARM devices will be more than enough to do what they want. Browse the web, play basic games/Facebook games, watch YouTube, stream Netflix and Hulu, etc.

Intel will need to make serious improvements in Atoms performance and power usage in order to stay competitive in mobile form factors. Traditional desktops are being relegated to mainly PC gamers. For everyone else, a laptop or tablet is good enough.

I really don't understand your point. I said the problem with ARM devices like Surface RT is that they lack the raw power to do anything truly productive. So you reply and say they're getting more powerful and then go on to name a bunch of unproductive things that people like to do while they sit on the couch...things that could also be done on a phone or on a smart tv. As it stands, you would have to pair an ARM tablet with your x86 note/ultrabook if you want to do versatile CPU intensive tasks and still be mobile...and who really wants to add to their pile of electronics and add more redundancy to their lives?

Maybe if you give it 2-3 years with second generation quad-core cortex A-15 and LOTS of software development, you'll have a point. But by then, you'll have Intel's successor to Haswell mopping the floor with ARM. The writing is very nearly on the wall. I think Ivy Bridge Surface Pro is just the beginning of the end of ARM...people are going to quickly realize how much electronic redundancy they can remove from their pile of clutter.

quote: the problem with ARM devices like Surface RT is that they lack the raw power to do anything truly productive

Current gen ARM CPU's are about as powerful as high end CPU's from 6 or 7 years ago, and productive work has been going on in the computing world for decades. Most "productivity" requires enough horsepower to run a word processor.

Current ARM CPU's are easily powerful enough for what the vast majority of users do with their PC's.

I agree that Windows RT is great in theory. I don't think the ARM hardware has caught up enough to use RT as a desktop/laptop replacement. However the Surface Pro and other i3/i5/i7 processors can be if you ignore price and other available laptop options on the market. (I'm not sure if I would leave the Surface Pro running like I do my other Tablets.)

At some point though Windows RT should be able to be a laptop replacement for home computers and for certain individuals this is an option now. Until then here's hoping that the Surface Pro is worth the extra expense over a i5 laptop.

It's no longer a tablet at that point, if you have to update your anti-virus definitions, and apply the constant stream of Windows Update security flaws, oh and don't forget to defrag your hard drive and clean your Windows Registry! You need an entire IT department of geeks to keep the thing healthy and running.

Compare that to an embedded solution like iPad or Android tablet, where it's literally an appliance. Turn it on, and use it. Simple. No IT geeks required. No constant worry of viruses and spyware and security flaws and patches.

Windows ARM is too little too late (and no 3rd party apps), and Windows x86 tablet is a piss poor answer to a question nobody asked.

quote: if you have to update your anti-virus definitions, and apply the constant stream of Windows Update security flaws, oh and don't forget to defrag your hard drive and clean your Windows Registry

Hey lying troll, here's an educational story for ya. A buddy of mine recently purchased x86 tablet with Win8, named Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500t, and he never had to install any antivirus software or clean any registry. He just got Office 2010 running there quickly and experience was fast and fluid, I saw myself how fast Excel 2010 starts up on this tablet - it was FASTER THAN ON HIS NEW LENOVO LAPTOP!

Also x86 tablets like this ATIV have flash storage, hence your "defrag" doesn't make any sense. Do you even know that flash storage does not require defrag? I think you're way too dumb to understand such simple things :)

So, illiterate idiot, why don't ya educate yourself a little about these tech things, before posting funny rubbish here huh? You just have to know about some basics about defrag and flash memory, then your posts won't be as moronic as they are now. Capice?

quote: Turn it on, and use it. Simple. No IT geeks required.

Well, that's how he uses this x86 Win8 tablet. He asked me once how to install Office 2010 in a fastest way, and second time he asked me why when he copies music files in Explorer only the shortcuts are copied, I had to point his attention to the fact that there was "Creating a shortcut" message appearing around cursor when he was dragging files, don't know why he didn't look at it first time. Looks like your braindead trolling about "IT geekery" needed to run the x86 tablet has no real life foundation. At least I haven't seen it in case of this guy, and he doesn't even know what junkware is and how to uninstall it so he's almost illiterate with PCs.

You're just a braindead fucking stupid troll, otherwise you would easily understand that there are use cases where people like to have Windows productivity software on their tablets. So this guy spends his day in Excel 2010 mostly but in the evening he undocks this ATIV from its keyboard dock and goes to the couch to play some games with his kids, browse some videos with them and have normal tablet/touch fun as usual, iPad style.

This CAN'T be done with your shitty iPad or Android crap, do you even remotely understand this simple thing, ya clueless troll? Let's see if I'm talking to a piece of fucking wood now, or are you a sentient being :)